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Mayor Miller Signs Declaration
On Nov.19, Mayor David Miller and partners joined with members of the private, public and voluntary sectors at the Get Active Toronto; Access to Activity Summit to find a solution to the physical inactivity crisis in Toronto. Representatives from 40 organizations attended.
The Mayor and participants signed a Declaration of Commitment to a physically active Toronto. Toronto stakeholders were asked to commit to working together to: build awareness of the need for a physically active City; reduce barriers to physical activity in Toronto; and expand opportunities for physical activity for all Torontonians.
Get Active Toronto unveiled a report card on Access to Activity at the summit to help identify areas where new or improved initiatives are needed. The Report Card provides data that affects physical activity levels in populations, geographic areas, socio-economic and socio-cultural groups. The report card allows organizations addressing a variety of physical inactivity issues to develop a reliable benchmark for improvement.
Kicked off in June 2005, the Get Active Toronto (formerly Get Your Move On) collaborative aims to advocate the benefits of incorporating physical activity into everyday life and is funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Thanks for your support poster (PDF file size 312KB)
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Of interest |
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Who are we?
Get Your Move On (GYMO) is an initiative formed between public, voluntary and private sector organizations to address the current epidemic of physical inactivity by achieving increased physical activity levels in Toronto by raising public awareness, creating more opportunities and reducing barriers to enable all residents to be physically active where they live, work, learn and play.
Get Your Move On is proudly funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, whose commitment to the health of Ontarians is well-renowned.
What do we do?
Physical activity will enhance the physical, psychological and social health of the people of Toronto and serve to create vibrant, liveable, healthy communities that will contribute to the social, economic and environmental health of our City. Through task forces, events, and public awareness initiatives GYMO has had the following successes:
- Early childhood activity awareness
- Increased education in schools
- Improved Access and equity (reaching diverse communities)
- Augmented overall public awareness/community engagement
- Implemented research & evaluation processes
- Provided community access to space
Mayor David Miller is honorary chair; Tom Anselmi, Executive Vice President of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment; Scott Haldane, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Toronto; and Dr. David McKeown, Medical Officer of Health, Toronto Public Health, are co-chairs.
GYMO Accomplishments
In the last four years, Get Your Move On has been working with many community organizations and partners to help address the barriers to physical activity. We are committed to increasing physical activity so that Toronto can do better than get a passing grade; Toronto can the most physically active city in Canada and attract worldwide attention as a community committed to sport and recreation.
Check out some of our achievements.
The future:
Get Your Move On is re-launching based on the successful work completed by the Get Your Move On Partnership Group of 30 public, voluntary and private sector organizations. Some of the Board members include: the YMCA of Greater Toronto, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, Toronto Public Health, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation, the Laidlaw Foundation, the Toronto Community Foundation, The Justin Poy Agency, Toronto Sports Council, The Toronto Catholic District School Board, Environics Analytics, and the CBC. The Board will craft the vision for the next three years.
In general, we are committed to continuing the initiatives we began, generating policy influence, and increasing physical activity levels in the city. We can do this in a variety of ways: with influential partners we can pool resources and bring opportunities for physical activities into areas where they are not currently available; we can help grass-roots organizations to partner with others to secure funding to provide physical activity initiatives into existing programs. Get Your Move On will work at creating an environment for Torontonians that fosters a desire for physical activity. We have been benchmarking activity levels so that we can compare them over the next three years and we plan to:
- Consolidate and develop an independent structure, and continue to make progress;
- Move to a new level - build more relationships with the private sector; and
- Complete a major evaluation/measurement against the benchmark
Multilingual public service announcement videos
Get your move on tip
Explore the bike and walking paths in Toronto. For a copy of Toronto Cycling Map and/or Parks and Trails map call 416-338-0338 or pick one up at your local civic centre.
Walking, biking, swimming, yoga, dancing, pilates, tai chi, aerobics, hiking, martial arts,.there are so many ways to be physically active, have fun, and benefit your health! Toronto has a rich array of places to Get Your Move On, examples of which include over 200 City-run, community or YMCA operated recreation centres/clubs, 140 public swimming pools, 100 public skating arenas/rinks, 195 kilometres of pedestrian/bicycle paths, 1500 parks, and 90 kilometres of paved trail through parks.
In 2003 the Medical Officer of Health reported on an "epidemic of inactivity" in Toronto, with only 33% of residents physically active. Public health evidence shows inactivity leads to increased risk for early onset of chronic disease.
The Get your move on campaign encourages organizations and individuals to take action in their communities and in their personal lives to "make physical activity a Toronto thing."
Last updated May 2009
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